The Sixers may not be suitors for the league’s top free agents, but they find themselves in an interesting position to be able to gain from the decisions of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and other top names on the market.

LeBron James singularly orchestrated the Big Three union. And now that he has opted out of his Miami Heat contract, he’s once again the Alpha Male of pro sports. Teams are scrambling to find the proper finances and expiring contracts, flipping over cushions for salary cap coin.

Local cable providers love to remind us that we have nine – yes, nine – professional sports clubs, a way of persuading us to click on this package or that so we can view the screen-in-screen horror we call baseball, football, and basketball.

The Celtics need a pick-me-up after losing the opening two games of their first-round playoff series against the Knicks. The city of Boston could use one, too, after a traumatic two weeks of bombings and manhunts and grieving.

With more than 50 wins for the New York Knicks and more than 27 points per game for himself, the numbers back Melo up. The Knicks won a division title, and Anthony will add the scoring title after the regular season ends Wednesday.